Curriculum

Please note that participants must move through the program sequentially. To attend Year 2, attendees must have attended Year 1, and to attend Year 3, attendees must have attended both Years 1 and 2. To attend the Advanced Year, participants must be a CDI graduate. The complete program consists of three, one-week training sessions. In addition to learning from successful practitioners, CDI also offers valuable networking and peer-to-peer learning opportunities. Each CDI site offers the core curriculum courses listed below in addition to other course offerings based on site needs and demographics.

Year One

Year One focuses on the foundations of community development and includes group simulations providing participants with a better understanding of the challenges and benefits of a community development approach.
• Asset-Based Community Development
• Community Development Assessments
• Community and Economic Development Practice
• Community Visioning and Strategic Planning
• Team Building

Year Two

Year Two emphasis is placed on the “nuts and bolts” of implementing economic development strategies, including business attraction, expansion and retention, and entrepreneurship. Overview of commercial and industrial development projects and group simulations are learning tools for this course.
• Building Entrepreneurial Communities
• Business Retention and Expansion
• Business Site Selection Process
• Community and Economic Development Finance
• Understanding Community Economies

To register for Year Two, participants must have attended Year 1.

Year Three

Year Three focus is on implementing the knowledge gained in previous years plus acquiring skills in leadership, marketing and organizing the community development effort.
• Understanding Local Development Organizations
• Marketing Your Community
• Measuring Progress
• Workforce Planning and Development

To register for Year Three, participants must have attended Years 1 and 2.

Advanced Year

Advanced Year is open to all graduates of the Institute. It is a five day, intensive workshop that takes place in an Arkansas community and that allows CDI graduates the opportunity to use the skills and knowledge they’ve gained from CDI in a real-world setting.

To register for the Advanced Year, a participant must be a CDI graduate.